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Rather than us trying to explain this series, here are a few quotes about Macchia directly from Chihuly:
"The Macchia series began with my waking up one day and wanting to use all 300 of the colors in my Hotshop. I started making up a color chart with one color for the interior, another color for the exterior, and a contrasting color for the lip wrap, along with various colored specks of glass between the layers. Throughout the blowing process, more colors were added, layer upon layer. Each piece was another experiment. When we loaded the ovens in the morning, there was a rush of seeing something that I had never seen before. Like so much of my work, the series inspired itself. The unbelievable combinations of color - that was my driving force to keep creating this series" –Chihuly
Cerulean Macchia with Cherry Lip Wrap, 2017
"When my Mother saw the first Macchia, she called them 'the uglies' because the colors were so bizarre. When it came time for the first Macchia exhibit, I didn't know what to call the series. So, I phoned my best friend, Italo Scanga, and asked him what 'spotted' meant in Italian. He said, 'Macchia,' and it stuck." –Chihuly
Amethyst Macchia with Red Lip Wrap, 2019
"Most people don't realize it, but blowing a piece of glass with a range of colors is extremely difficult because each color attracts and retains heat differently. Over time we figured out these technical complexities and the Macchia began to increase in size. Eventually, the pieces got to be over four feet in diameter and with them I felt for the first time that a single piece of my glass could 'hold its own' in a room" –Chihuly